Vivi scanned over the bulletin board for what must have been the tenth time during the week. Nothing had caught her eye before, it had all been such nonsense. Rare flowers for a sweetheart, delivering pastries, even getting rid of rats. And not even giant mutated rats, just regular rats. None of it was up to her caliber, none of it would improve her strength or give her any sort of assistance in improving her standing in the city among the right crowd. She had little hope that day either, and much of what she read over was the same complete drivel that did nothing to interest her. But, as someone wrenched off a notice from the board, her eye caught glimpse of something. She stepped forward and brushed off a very faded piece of parchment that must have been stuck onto the board weeks ago. The quest itself didn't seem terribly interesting either, but Vivi still pulled it from the board. It was curiosity which inclined her to do so, which begged her to seek out the answer to this strange little riddle hidden beneath a board of paper. A scavenger hunt.

Vivi left the main square, her resolve already strengthened by the possibilities this quest entailed. The first on her list was an old plant. Simple enough. There were plenty of green spaces in Oak along the roads, florists and greenhouses here and there. She decided to take the simple rout and simply pluck one off a windowsill. It was a small little thing, a pack of daisies that had been tended too for some time but that looked a bit withered. Clearly whoever had been tending to them had grown tired of the effort. Stuffing the pot into her bag, Vivi began her search for the next item; a piece of burnt wood. Very simple indeed. Finding a home that had burnt down wasn't hard in a city like Oak, and soon enough she was graced by a charred wreck of a building. She plucked a piece of wood up from the ruins before sallying back into the crowd without a word. The last thing she saw on the list was a large chunk of metal. Not the easiest thing to acquire, but it wasn't too hard. She snuck her way into a back alley and followed it along until she came across a smithy. The sound of hammering metal and the hissing of the forge queued her in. Sneaking in, she snagged an iron bar from a stack and made her escape before any inside were wise to her work.

With her items gathered, Vivi followed the note's instructions to find its poster. A small home on the eastern side of town. Knocking on the door, Vivi waited patiently with the items tucked beneath her arm. Greeted by a raven-haired woman when the door opened, she was also gifted with a bout of laughter.

"I'm sorry, dear, but that was just a joke." She shook her head. "I can't believe someone went and grabbed all of this useless stuff." She reached behind her door and suddenly produced a bag of jewels which she tossed to Vivi. "I didn't think anyone would do it, especially after all these weeks. Still, take this for your trouble."

Vivi groaned in annoyance even as she took the payment. If she never dealt with this woman again it would be too soon. But at least dinner was covered.

[585/500 Words]